Inflammatory mediators in inflammatory bowel disease

Considerable efforts have been made over the past 20 years to identify the chemical signals that coordinate the inflammatory response in inflammatory bowel disease. In addition to gaining a better understanding of the pathogenesis of this disorder through such studies, it is hoped that these mediators might be targets for novel therapeutics. In the past year, significant progress has been made in understanding the contributions of a number of inflammatory mediators in human inflammatory bowel disease and in animal models of intestinal inflammation. These mediators include nitric oxide, eicosanoids, and histamine as well as the cytokines (both pro- and anti-inflammatory). Clinical trials have assessed the contribution of certain inflammatory mediators (eg, tumor necrosis factor) in inflammatory bowel disease.